October 3, 2016 #TriCitiesWx Forecast

There have been a few clouds around, but nothing much going on today weather wise. While not far away there will be a lot going on, it looks like we’ll stay dry for much of the rest of the week. Welcome to the Tri-Cities Weather Blog forecast for tonight through Friday!

Temperatures have been nice today, with an official high of 79 degrees at the Tri-Cities Airport. Late this afternoon, Jefferson, North Carolina, was at 64 degrees, with most of the rest of us in the 70’s or close to that. Later in the blog, it’s map time! That comes after the outlook:

Here is the QPF (Quantitative Precipitation Forecast) from the NWS’ Weather Prediction Center from now until next Monday. There’s a big dry spot, and we’re right at the East end of that. To our east, there are lots of dark colors and red colors. That’s the effect of Hurricane Matthew…more on that in a minute.

The reason for that map is to show that in the next week, not much is going to happen here. Yes, a cold front is coming, but it won’t be here until Saturday. By then, a lot of its moisture will be gone, having spent itself out over the Plains. So what rain we get will be minimal. October is normally our driest month of the year, so this isn’t totally surprising.

We’ll have sunny days and partly cloudy nights this week, with highs close to 80, and lows in the mid 50’s. There is a small chance of rain late Friday as the cold front approaches, and as the hurricane gets closer.

As for Matthew, it’s about to hit Haiti, or just to the west of that part of that island. It will then run over Cuba, before impacting the Bahamas. From there, it’s a big question mark as to exactly where the storm will hit. More recent computers put landfall in Eastern North Carolina or the Outer Banks this weekend. If that happens, rain chances might bump up a bit, but not much. Eastern North Carolina is quite a ways away, so it’s likely that Matthew won’t impact us unless it makes landfall in South Carolina.

Meanwhile, we have a lot of sunshine to enjoy, so get out there and have fun! It is October, so we won’t be seeing 78-80 degree weather much longer! Have a great Tuesday!

Tri-Cities Almanac Info

Temperatures

Sunday: High 76, Low 52.

Today: High 79, Low 52.

Average for early October: Highs in the low 70’s, lows in the upper 40’s.